


Back & Forth

by LuhanismyKing



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Joshua is my bias I swear, M/M, The Jisol isn't that strong but it's there, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 17:10:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14525367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuhanismyKing/pseuds/LuhanismyKing
Summary: Joshua is tired of being left out and he leaves the group, but Vernon tries to get him back.





	1. How It All Began

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to put this out there, I am a huge Joshua fan and I believe he's a very valuable part of Seventeen, I just really like drama. I read a story about him leaving Seventeen some where and it made me think and I came up with this. I hope you enjoy~

"Vocal Units night out whoop whoop!" Seungkwan basically screeched on his Snapchat story. All of vocal unit was there, except their local gentleman, Joshua who was watching on his phone from the practice room. With a sigh, he closed out of Snapchat and left the room.  
   
~  
  
"Hey guys, aren't we missing someone?" Jeonghan paused. Vocal team was all spread out around Woozi's studio working on new songs. Well, in Woozi's words it would be 'annoying' him.  
  
"Oh shoot you're right! Joshua hyung isn't here! Wow, we've been here quite awhile and none of us noticed. Oops." Dokyeom said lightly laughing.  
  
"I'll go get him." Jeonghan said getting out of his cocoon of blankets, walking out of the room.  
  
He went into the practice room and saw Joshua and Vernon talking in English and laughing while looking over a notebook. Jeonghan frowned and made his way up to Joshua.  
  
"Dude, are you seriously skipping out on vocal team practice? We've been working on songs for about 4 hours now and instead you're sitting here flirting with one of the maknaes."  
  
"What are you talking about? What vocal team practice?" Joshua tilted his head up at Jeonghan looking confused.  
  
"Don't lie. You've been missing out on a lot lately, so don't you dare pin it on me."  
  
"With all due respect 'hyung,' you haven't said a single thing to him about it. Plus you always seem to forget that he's even a part of vocal team, so don't you dare start yelling at him over this. I could go and tell Seungcheol hyung about this and get you into major trouble if you want." Vernon growled standing up to face Jeonghan head on.  
  
They stared at each other for a few minutes while Joshua just kind of sat there looking back and forth between the two before finally Jeonghan scoffed and looked away. "Just make your way to Woozi's studio when you can."  
  
~  
  
They were in the middle of an interview, when Joshua snapped. He was done with all of this. Woozi was supposed to name all of the members of vocal unit and yet he never said "Joshua" he went through it three times and nothing. Joshua had to stop himself from getting up and walking out of the room.  
  
After the interview, Joshua decided to take some time to himself and took a walk around the building. Since no one on his team seemed to care about him, he figured no one would notice he was gone.  
  
"Excuse me, sir. Are you by any chance Joshua from Seventeen?" A woman said in English walking up to him, she had an aura of confidence surrounding her and she was gorgeous.  
  
"Yes, that would be me. Why?" Joshua replied looking at her with curious eyes.  
  
"I'm Jade, I'm the owner of XI Studios." She smiled, seeing his confused face she continued. "It's an entertainment company from America. I've been watching you for awhile and with you're talent I could practically guarantee you that you'll be successful in America. Way more than you are here. Trust me."  
  
"I'm already in a group though..."  
  
"I know, but you wouldn't be the first person to leave a group to seek a solo career. Just think about it, okay? Here's my business card, if you ever change your mind, give me a call." She handed him her business card and without saying another word, she walked away.  
  
Joshua stared at the card before putting it in his pocket and made his way back to the dressing room.  
  
~  
  
"Hey Josh, can I ask you something?" Vernon asked in English sitting down next to Joshua on his bed.  
  
"Sure. Go ahead." Joshua replied manuevering his guitar away from his body and back into its case.  
  
Vernon took out the business card and set it on the bed without a word. As Joshua looked at it, he monitored the older boys gaze. Finally after what seemed like eternity, Joshua looked up with panicked eyes. "Are you leaving?" Vernon asked in a small voice.  
  
Joshua opened his mouth to respond then closed it again, realizing he had nothing to say. He was still deciding, he had thought he lost the card so he figured it wasn't meant to be, but seeing it again, made him reconsider.  
  
"It's fine if you are, I understand, but please don't hide it from me. I found it on the floor next to your bed a week ago... I really don't want you to leave, but I get it. I really do." Vernon rambled worriedly.  
"I'm thinking about it honestly, I don't want to be in a group where I'm not appreciated any longer. The lady who gave me that business card told me that I'd be more successful in America than I am here. Nothing's set in stone yet. I figured I should give everyone else one more shot." Joshua frowned glancing down at the card in his hand.  
  
"I don't know if you want my opinion or not, but I'll say it anyway and you can decided whether or not to take it." Vernon stopped trying to get the right words. "I think you should take it Josh, I'll probably be the most sad since you're my best friend, but I understand. You need to do what's best for you and if playing your guitar and singing to your hearts content is what you want to do, then go do it. No one in our group will be happy about you leaving, but all of us will be proud that you're doing what you want to do. Trust me on that."  
  
"Thank you. I'll let you know if I decide on anything. Please don't tell anyone about this, I don't want to cause an uproar."  
  
"I won't, I got your back, hyung, just like you have mine."  
  
~  
  
"Everyone, we need to talk about something very serious. You all told me to tell you if anything comes up, so I'm going to." Seungcheol said during the groups meeting one night.  
  
"Is it bad, hyung?" Dino asked tiredly leaning back against Hoshi.  
  
"That depends how you take it." At that everyone was stunned into silence carefully taking in their leaders words. "The company has gotten a lot of hate mail pertaining to how the fans think our group is behaving. That's probably bad phrasing, so sorry, but I think you get the gist of it."  
  
"What do you mean behaving? We all get along just fine." Mingyu said frowning. Everyone else verbally agreed except for the two Americans who stayed silent.  
  
"That's not what the fans see. They think that we're segregating Joshua from the rest of the group. Well, specifically from the vocal unit if we're pointing fingers. Woozi, that falls on you." Seungcheol said bluntly.  
  
"How is it my fault?" Woozi sassed crossing his arms across his chest.  
  
"Oh I don't know. Maybe because you're the leader and you always leave him behind!" Vernon replied standing up for his friend.  
  
"Don't you dare start with that Vernon, that's his own choice, just because we don't say anything doesn't mean that he's any less a part of our team. He can come if he wants, I'm not his babysitter, I'm not responsible for holding his hand and walking him to practice, that seems to be your job." Woozi rolled his eyes.  
  
"Besides, if he really wanted to be a valuable member of our team, he wouldn't stay with you flirting all day while the rest of us practice!" Seungkwan added coming to Woozi's aid.  
  
Before they knew it, it turned into a huge fight between the whole group and Joshua hadn't said a single word. Instead he just got up and walked to his bedroom and grabbed the business card off his bed.  
  
"Hello?" He heard when the call got through.  
  
" Hello, is this Jade? It's Joshua from Seventeen."  
  
"Wow Joshua,  I didn't think you'd actually call."


	2. Bye Bye

Once the call ended, Joshua packed as much of his stuff as he could and made his way back to the living room. An hour had passed and they were still fighting. He stood there watching them argue until Dokyeom noticed and stopped talking. It was like dominoes, after he quieted down, the rest followed.  
  
"I'm leaving the group. You don't have to worry about this little 'problem' any longer. I'm done." He said looking straight forward.  
  
"You're leaving?" The8 asked quietly staring at him with sad eyes. Joshua nodded and then another uproar of arguments began.  
  
"How can you just leave you coward!" Jeonghan retorted.  
  
"Why hyung? Is it because I constantly make fun of you? I'm sorry I'll stop!" Dokyeom cried.  
  
The list of replies went on and on.  
  
"Listen, all of your replies won't change my decision, I'm leaving whether you like it or not. I'm just done with all of you, I need to focus on my own mental health for awhile and then move forward from there. I can't do that with all of you yelling at me and forgetting about me."  
  
After he said that, the room fell into silence. Until Vernon slowly got up and walked up to him. He hugged him and whispered into his ear, "I'm proud of you hyung, I'll support you. Just please don't forget about me. I love you, you're my best friend. Just don't forget please."  
  
"Never, I love you too and thank you. Maybe one day we'll stand on stage together again."  
  
~  
  
That morning he went to the company and terminated his contract. By that night he was on a plane to America, ready to start his new life. One where he was alone, ready to face the real world. No longer having his 'friends' by his side.  
  
"Welcome to your new family, Joshua." Jade greeted him at the airport with a warm smile.  
  
~  
  
One year later  
  
"Hey hyung, did you see the schedule? Joshua is on it." Dino said one day in the practice room. It was the day before the MAMA Awards and they were all working hard to make their performance perfect.  
  
"Really? Why would he be on the list?" Seungcheol responded snatching the paper from Dino.  
  
To say it has been difficult since Joshua left would be an understatement, it really threw the group into shambles. The group ended up fighting more than ever and there was no longer a mediator. Half of the group blamed Woozi for Joshua's departure and the other half blamed Joshua himself.  
  
It took 6 months for them to finally build up from his departure and it wasn't easy. There are still instances where someone starts becoming distant, staring at a picture of the group as 13.  
  
They all made sure to keep up with Joshua's activities, although they all hated him for leaving, he was still family, even if he didn't know it. He was receiving his well deserved attention from the world as a soloist and he was now one of the most successful artists in America. Surprisingly, he was an amazing rapper.  
  
Seeing his name on the list, Seungcheol froze.  
  
"Hyung?" Dino asked worriedly.  
  
"Maybe it's a mistake. Let's not get our hopes up, okay? If it's fake, I don't want anyone to be disappointed. Let's keep practicing."  
  
~  
  
"Male Solo Artist of the Year goes to.... Joshua Hong!"  
  
"Thank you, I've only been a soloist for a year and I'm already getting all this recognition and it's all thanks to all of you... Thank you!"  
  
~  
  
"Joshua, do you want to go talk to your old group mates? They're here." Alex, his new manager said putting her hand on his shoulder after the award show ended.  
  
"I think I should." He sighed.  
  
~  
  
"Hey guys..." Joshua said softly walking into the loud waiting room. Immediately the sound stopped, it was so quiet that you could hear a pen drop.  
  
"Joshua?" Vernon said walking up to him. He nodded and Vernon smiled giving him a hug. "I've missed you bro! How's it been?"  
  
"I've missed you too. It's been good."  
  
"Good?" Seungkwan scoffed walking up to him and giving him a hug as well, slowly all of the group made their way to greet Joshua after seeing Seungkwan. "You're practically  a millionaire now, I think you're doing more than just 'good' hyung."  
  
Joshua laughed awkwardly, "Yeah I guess you're right about that one."  
  
"I'm always right."  
  
"You haven't changed it seems."  
  
"You have." Jeonghan piped up.  
  
"Yeah... I guess I'm finally happy."  
  
"Guess he's not rejoining the group..." Jun whispered to The8 in Chinese.  
  
"Well, I just came to say hi, I've got to go. It was great seeing you all again!" Joshua awkwardly said walking back towards the door as quickly as he could without falling.  
  
Before he could walk out the door, Dino cried out and ran to hug him saying, "No, hyung! Please don't leave again! We aren't complete without you! Please come back!"  
  
Joshua looked to the rest of the group who were looking on with hopeful gazes, he looked back down at Dino and sighed, "I can't."  
  
At that, the rest of the group broke and started talking at the same time trying to convince him.  
  
"Why? Are they forcing you to stay?"  
  
"Do you not miss us?"  
  
"Really? Are you seriously doing this again?"  
  
"Please stay hyung!"  
  
The list went on.  
"Guys! Calm down and let me explain! I'm not rejoining, not because I don't miss you all or because the fame as gotten to my head, but because I don't want to be a part of a group that doesn't appreciate me. In the one year that we were apart, the only one I heard from was Hansol and Chan. I'm finally happy and I don't want to go back to this group, knowing I'll just drag myself back down. You have to earn my trust first, before I come back." With that he detached Dino from his body and walked out, slamming the door behind him.  
  
"Chan, you idiot! Why'd you do that? What the actual hell?" Jeonghan yelled storming out of the room.  
  
Chan's eyes started to water as he looked down at the ground, "I'm sorry hyungs, I just miss my Shua Hyung."  
  
"Me too. Sadly Chan, it isn't something we can control, since it was all the hyungs fault. Let's go." Vernon said hatefully, while grabbing onto Dino and walking out of the room.  
  
"What have I done?" Woozi whispered.  
  
~  
  
"So Joshua, for your next album, I was thinking we could do a feature from one of your old group mates. Think of all the press you would get." Alex said looking over at Joshua from his desk.  
  
"Umm, what? You want me to, what? Why?" Joshua replied fumbling for the proper words.  
  
"You heard me. Just think about a member, alright? This comes straight from the CEO so we can't really say no."  
  
"Vernon." Joshua stated stubbornly. "I won't do a feature on any of them besides him."  
  
"Alright then, it's settled."  



	3. Operation: Get Joshua Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did I do this?

"Oh my gosh! Did you guys hear?" Seungkwan squealed running into the living room where most of his group was. "Vernon is going to be featured on Joshua's new album!"  
  
"What? Why wasn't I chosen?" Jeonghan whined.  
  
Everyone just ignored him and turned to Vernon who was blushing up a storm.  
  
"Alright Vernon, use this as your opportunity to get Joshua to want to get back in this group." Dokyeom demanded.  
  
"No, it isn't an order so I'm not doing it. He can make his own choices." He replied bluntly.  
  
"Cheol hyung! Make it an order!" Hoshi joined, whining at their leader.  
  
"It's an order Vernon."  
  
"Ugh"  
  
~  
  
"Wow Josh, so this is your studio. Where you make the magic happen." Vernon said looking around at Joshua's studio at his company.  
  
They were finally recording the song they had agreed to make together. The song was called Rocket and it had a great mixture of English and Korean, for both of their fans would like it.  
  
"Yeah... it's nothing special, but it's become a second home to me already." Joshua replied softly taking a seat on his couch.  
  
"Are you lonely?" Vernon asked taking a seat on a chair, seeing Josh's panicked eyes he quickly added, "I mean having your own studio, do you miss having people bother you constantly."  
  
"Oh, a little bit. Most of the time I spend in here is recording or taking a nap, so I don't really try to focus on that. It just ruins my mood."  
  
"Hmm." He nodded looking around at the room. "So Josh, do you have a boyfriend yet? I mean you are free so why not, right?"  
  
Joshua laughed at the obvious jealously radiating off Vernon. It was pretty clear that he wished that he had the same luxury and getting a partner. "No, I don't, but thanks for asking. I don't really like putting myself out there, you know? I wasn't expecting the fame that I received so suddenly, I don't want to ruin Seventeen's reputation or my own for that matter."  
  
"Don't worry about that stuff, Josh. I know how much you need human contact to survive. "At that Joshua froze. "I mean like hugging and stuff, don't take it too literally, you pervert. Anyway back to where I was, take risks Josh, you're free, so be free. Go be a prostitute or something, just let loose."  
  
"Are you suggesting that I should just go kiss a bunch of random people?" Joshua responded amusedly.  
  
"Well, umm, no." He responded nervously.  
  
"Should I start now with you then?" Josh decided to take his teasing up a notch and started to approach Vernon.  
  
"Umm, heh, our song, eh?" Vernon coughed out trying to look away from the older who was still toying with him, seductively walking towards him.  
  
" What was that? Cat got your tongue?"  
  
Vernon finally gathered his courage and looked at Joshua, just to immediately gasp when he realized how closer his hyung had gotten.  
  
"Hyung... how about we work on the song?" Vernon said as clearly as he could in his nervous state.  
  
Joshua laughed and moved away, making his way to his recording booth. Once he reached his destination, he turned to look back at him. "Well? This song isn't going to make itself."  
  
Vernon let out a shaky breath and made his way to the older. At that point, it was getting very hard for him to hold in his feelings for Joshua. He never said anything because they were in a group together, but at that moment, he got the hope he needed to not give up. He just hoped that he wouldn't end up hurt in the end.  
  
~  
  
"1st place goes to.... JOSHUA AND VERNON WITH "ROCKET"!  
  
"WOW, ANOTHER 1ST FOR JOSHUA AND VERNON WITH "ROCKET'!"  
   
The list of wins went on. They had decided to release the song in Korean, but it did have it's fair share of English mixed in. The song was luckily a hit and it made some part of Joshua sad that he left performing in a group, but he would not he swayed this easily.  
  
~  
  
"Wow, we did it hyung. We released a song, we came out on top with 7 wins, and now... now, it's over." Vernon stated, his smile quickly turning into a frown. Joshua met his eyes and gave him a quick, forced smile trying to lighten the mood.  
  
"Hey, don't think about it that way. Think about it as, a once in a lifetime opportunity. Don't think about the past. Okay?"  
  
Vernon nodded and didn't reply for quite a while. After want seemed like ages for Joshua, he responded in a soft voice, "You really won't come back? Is there really nothing I can do to get you to comeback?"  
  
Joshua thought about it a second and replied, "I honestly don't know anymore, I miss being in the group, preparing for stages, and surprisingly, the hard dances. However, I really don't miss the disrespect and the loneliness that came with it."  
  
"You won't be alone Shua. You have me." At that he pulled Joshua into a hug trying to channel all of his love and emotion into that one hug. He missed his hyung, his American bro, the (secretly) love of his life. "I love you Joshua. Please come back to me."  
  
Joshua let out a shaky left and responded, "i love you too. I'll think about it, but please don't get your hopes up."  
  
"Just think about it, please? You won't regret it, trust me. Everyone in the group has changed and we all miss you greatly."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Okay?" Vernon copied, leaning back from their hug. "Okay you'll think about it?"  
  
"Okay, I'll give trying to be back in the group a go, but if I don't feel welcome, I'm leaving immediately and I won't rejoin."  
  
"Wow, if this is what I get for lowkey confessing, then I most definitely should've confessed sooner."  
  
"This is you confessing? No date or anything, just boom?"  
  
"Oh! Right! Will you go out with me Joshua hyung?"  
  
"We'll see."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I'm so bad at love stuff but I like writing.... It's almost over my friends...


	4. Uwu How it All Ends

"Hansollie! How'd it go? Is Operation: Get Joshua Back a success?" Seungkwan practically screeched running up to greet Vernon at the front door of their dorm.  
  
"Hi Seungkwan, yes I'm doing great, my trip was a lot of fun, thanks for asking." Vernon replied monotonously.  
  
"You're welcome. Now answer my questions!"  
  
"I don't know Seungkwan, why don't you ask him yourself."  
  
Joshua chose that moment to walk through that door and Seungkwan's eyes basically popped out of his head.  
  
"Hi?" Joshua offered with a wave.  
  
"Oh my goodness, hyung! You're back!" Seungkwan yelled, making all of the other members run into the room in alarm, just to all freeze, looking at Joshua.  
  
"You're back?" Dino whispered slowly walking towards Joshua.  
  
"For now. If I don't feel super 13th wheeled any longer then I'm back for good, if not, I'm leaving again. For good."  
  
Dino smiled a huge smile and ran towards his hyung. "Trust me hyung, I'll ensure all the other hyungs give you so much love you'll wish it would stop!"  
  
"Thanks maknae."  
  
~  
"So, Jisoo, what brought you back?" Seungcheol asked that night while him, Joshua, Jihoon and Jeonghan were sitting in the living room, catching up.  
  
"Vernon." Jihoon scoffed at that but didn't respond.  
  
"Ah waeeee. Why not me??" Jeonghan jokingly pouted.  
  
"Han, you're one of the reasons I left in the first place." Joshua retorted taking a sip of his coffee.  
  
"Oh, yeah..." Jeonghan deflated, leaning back into the couch.  
  
Joshua sighed and set his cup down. "Okay, listen. I need to stop holding a grudge against both of you and you both need to stop being huge dicks. That was a part of the problem in the first place. Vernon and Dino practically begged me to come back, so here I am, but the second, I feel alone in this whole thing, I'm leaving again. So choose wisely. You don't have to like me, but you better pretend your ass off. The other members will blame both of you if I walk out the door, well and Jihoon, but still."  
  
Seungcheol nodded, "You're right Joshua. I'm sorry about all of this mess. I know it all happened over a year ago, but I didn't do the right thing as the leader of this group and I want to make it right to you. It's unfair that we're pushing you back from the other members. I'll do everything I can to stop this, I swear it on my life." After that, he nudged Jihoon to speak.  
  
Jihoon sighed but spoke nonetheless, "I'm pretty sure all of this is my fault and I'm sorry about that. Most of the time I get caught up in what I'm doing and don't pay attention to who's around me, hence forgetting you."  
  
Jeonghan nodded along to his words and said, "Same. Sorry bro." Jihoon lightly slapped Jeonghan's head in disapproval urging him to continue. "We'll do our part, but please let us know when we do things wrong. We won't be able to work this out unless all of us do our part."  
  
"Alright then, I guess this will work out then."  
  
~  
  
"Vocal Unit practice!" Dokyeom sang walking into Woozi's studio only to pause at the door. "With Joshua?"  
  
"Complete Vocal Unit practice you mean." Woozi retorted barely looking up from his computer screen.  
  
"You right." Dokyeom nodded sitting down on the couch next to Joshua who was beaming like a ray of sunshine.  
  
After an hour, Joshua made up his mind on what he was going to do. He quietly left the room and took out his phone.  
  
"Hello?" A woman's voice said into the phone.  
  
"Hey, Jade..."  
  
~  
  
Two weeks later  
  
"Breaking news, Joshua Hong reportedly rejoined Seventeen, Pledis confirmed. Goodbye to his solo career, hello to teamwork."  
  
"JOSHUA HONG to leave the solo life behind just to go back to his group???"  
  
"Hong Jisoo is back and better than ever!"  
  
~  
  
"So that date?" Vernon said walking up to Joshua just to back hug him and completely invade his personal space.  
  
"Seems like it. Are you up to the challenge?"  
  
"Definetely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand we're done. Maybe now that this is out of my system I'll update my EXO fanfic..


End file.
